Nebraska Man Sentenced for Failure to Pay Legal Child Support

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 11, 2011

Contact: Mark E. Salter
Assistant United States Attorney
605-357-2360

US Attorney Brendan V. Johnson announced that a Wellfleet, Nebraska, man charged with Failure to Pay Legal Child Support was sentenced on February 11, 2011, by Chief US District Judge Karen E. Schreier. Grant E. Berens, age 25, was sentenced to five years of probation, six months of home confinement, a $100 special assessment to the Victim Assistance Fund, and child support restitution in the amount of $17,527.09.

Berens was indicted for failing to pay over $16,000 in past due child support by a federal grand jury on May 4, 2010. Berens was ordered by the First Judicial Circuit Court, Charles Mix County, to pay $335 per month for his minor child, commencing February 1, 2006. At the time of indictment, he had not made a child support payment since May 2008, and the total arrearage amount was $16,184.09. He pled guilty to the charge on November 9, 2010.

This case was investigated the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General. Assistant US Attorney Thomas J. Wright prosecuted the case.